Court No. - 17
Case :- WRIT - B No. - 4900 of 2018 Petitioner :- Rajendra Prasad Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Om Prakash Singh,Ram Kishor Gupta Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Rajiv Joshi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing counsel.
This writ petition has been filed for issuance of writ of mandamus commanding the (respondent no. 2) Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Fatehpur to decide the application filed by State Government/Goan Shabha, for condonation of delay under Section 5 of Limitation Act, first and then proceed with the Appeal No. 30-TB of 2017 (State of U.P. through Collector and another Vs. Rajendra Prasad).
The record reveals that against the order dated 17.01.2006, passed by the Consolidation Officer, Fatehpur, an appeal was filed by the State Government after about a laps of 10 years on 22.07.2017 alongwith an application for condonation of delay.
The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that since the appeal is time-barred and, therefore, the application for condonation of delay should be decided first. It is well-settled proposition that the time-barred appeal is incompetent appeal unless and until the delay is condoned.
In these circumstances, it is incumbent to the authorities to decide the matter regarding the delay condonation in the appeal first and, thereafter, if the delay is condoned, then to proceed with the matter. In these circumstances, the Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Fatehpur, is directed to decide the application for condonation of delay first than proceed with the appeal as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of six months from the date of production of certified copy of this order.
The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. Order Date :- 24.8.2018 Sweety